"As scientists, we concern ourselves with working on our research, securing funding for it, and recruiting students to carry it out. Even textbooks, including the dozens of materials science books I own, relegate the environmental and societal impacts of innovations to their final chapters, sending a strong message to future scientists about these considerations’ perceived priority. Consigning the impact of our innovations to a postscript has given rise to many current dilemmas now facing society, such as climate disruption and bias in algorithms. Not acknowledging how profoundly science affects society is naive at best and dangerous at worst. It is in this spirit that the story of the blue LED sheds light on how the euphoria of great breakthroughs can render us uncritical of them and as a result can catalyze a new set of problems and unintended consequences." (Issues in Science and Technology, Spring 2021)